Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Central America comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to take the Panama Canal back.

Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as secretary of State. The visit comes as Donald Trump looks to reclaim Panama's canal.

China's expanding footprint in Latin America is expected to be high on the agenda when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Panama next week on his first overseas trip since taking office, according to observers.

The new Secretary of State already has said the Hong Kong-based operator of Panama Canal-adjacent ports could be a “big national security and defense problem.”

Marco Rubio will make his first trip as US secretary of state to Central American nations including Panama, a spokeswoman said Thursday, after President Donald Trump threatened to seize the Panama Canal and clamped down hard on migration.

As President Donald Trump enters his second week in office, his administration continues to forge ahead with bold policy initiatives. Key highlights include an intensified focus on immigration enforcement,

China may have investments in the operations of the Panama Canal but its soldiers are not operating it.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Panama — the country whose canal President Donald Trump has suggested he’d seize — as early as next week, according to three U.S. officials briefed on the plan.

The new US Secretary of State's first trip abroad is dominated by Donald Trump's rigid migration policy and his Panama Canal plans. Marco Rubio is

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip abroad next week to Central America, including a stop in Panama, which President Donald Trump has riled with talk of trying to reclaim the Panama Canal.

Mr Rubio will visit Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Read more at straitstimes.com.